Email List Hygiene Checklist

Complete checklist for maintaining a clean, verified email list that maximizes deliverability and protects your sender reputation.

11Items
1-2 hoursEstimated time
Email OutreachCategory

Email Outreach3 sections · 11 steps

01Verify Your List4
02Clean & Segment4
03Maintain Ongoing Hygiene3

Work the list

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01Verify Your List

Run email verification on your entire listUse an email verification service to check every address for validity. Remove hard bounces, disposable emails, and clearly invalid addresses.easy
Identify and flag catch-all domainsCatch-all domains accept all email regardless of the specific address. Flag these contacts for careful handling, because deliverability is uncertain.easy
Remove role-based addresses from outreach listsAddresses like info@, support@, admin@ typically have lower engagement and higher complaint rates. Remove them from sales outreach lists.easy
Flag free email providers for B2B listsGmail, Yahoo, and Outlook addresses in a B2B list may indicate personal emails rather than business contacts. Flag these for review.easy

02Clean & Segment

Remove contacts who haven't opened in 6 monthsCreate a segment of contacts with zero email opens in the past 6 months. These contacts hurt your engagement metrics and sender reputation.easy
Handle bounced emails immediatelyAfter each campaign, remove hard bounces from your list. Soft bounces should be monitored: remove after 3 consecutive soft bounces.easy
Check for spam trap indicatorsOld lists and purchased lists are more likely to contain spam traps. If your list hasn't been verified recently, assume it contains some.medium
Segment by engagement levelCreate segments for highly engaged (opened last 30 days), moderately engaged (opened last 90 days), and cold (no engagement) contacts.medium

03Maintain Ongoing Hygiene

Set up real-time verification for new subscribersVerify email addresses at the point of entry (signup forms, import) to prevent invalid emails from entering your database.medium
Schedule quarterly list verificationRe-verify your entire email list every quarter to catch addresses that have become invalid due to job changes and domain expiration.easy
Monitor deliverability metrics weeklyTrack bounce rate, spam complaint rate, and inbox placement rate. Investigate any sudden changes that could indicate list quality issues.easy

Tips

01
Keep your bounce rate under 2%. Anything higher risks damage to your sender reputation
02
Never buy email lists. Purchased lists are the #1 source of spam trap hits and reputation damage
03
Verify emails before every major campaign, even if you verified recently. Data decays fast
04
Use double opt-in for marketing lists to ensure email addresses are valid from the start
05
Cleanlist AI's email verification checks MX records, SMTP validity, and catch-all status in a single pass

Frequently asked questions

How often should I clean my email list?

Verify your entire list quarterly and before any major campaign. Additionally, remove hard bounces after every send and re-verify contacts that haven't engaged in 6+ months. For high-volume senders, monthly verification is recommended.

What is a good email bounce rate?

Keep your bounce rate under 2% for optimal deliverability. A bounce rate of 2-5% signals list quality issues that need attention. Above 5% indicates serious hygiene problems that will likely damage your sender reputation and inbox placement.

What are catch-all emails and how should I handle them?

Catch-all domains are configured to accept email sent to any address at that domain, even if the specific mailbox doesn't exist. This means verification can't confirm whether the individual address is real. For sales outreach, you can include catch-all emails but monitor their bounce rates separately.

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